


Go the Fuck to Sleep

by Mems



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eruri Week, M/M, Prompt Fill, eruri - Freeform, protect erwin smith and his sleep at all costs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 04:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3106106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mems/pseuds/Mems
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s things other than their lives that they give up. Levi’s going to be damned if Erwin’s expected to give up one thing, however.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Go the Fuck to Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 2014/2015 Eruri Week. Day Two: Sacrifice. Comments/kudos welcomed.

Erwin doesn’t sleep enough. Levi knows it, and he’s pretty damn sure Erwin knows it, too. No one would be able to notice—no one does notice—because Erwin never lets outsiders see him vulnerable if there’s not an advantage to it, but Levi can tell. Erwin’s hands waver just so as they trace Erwin’s signature into countless mounds of papers when he’s given up a handful of hours of sleep in favor of writing condolences. When he does his hair, there’s always just a few, tiny golden strands not parted the way they usually are. It’s those things, and about a million more that clue the Captain in on whether Erwin actually took a nap in his office when he told Levi he did, or if Erwin just said it to please Levi when in fact he was doing work.

It pisses Levi off. Sure, Levi himself doesn’t get a lot of sleep. But he’s different.  _He’s_  not a Commander of a Legion of soldiers.  _He’s_  not the one that deals directly with Capital scum.  _He’s_  not the one already spending hours and hours on strategies that no one thinks will work.  _He’s_  not the one everyone expects to bring their sons and daughters home in one piece.

He’s not the one everyone else expects more than any living human is capable of to give.

It pisses him off. It pisses him off so much that when he goes to check and make sure Erwin’s actually sleeping this time around and not toiling away in his office, that when he finds Erwin’s room cold and empty he storms halfway across Head Quarters past several wide-eyed recruits to  _demand_  that Erwin take his sorry blonde ass to bed. Someone may have called his name at one point in his surly trek, but he didn’t pay attention.

When he gets to Erwin’s office, he doesn’t knock. He rarely does these days, unless he knows Erwin’s got important business going on behind the oak door. But there’s no meetings scheduled for another two weeks, and according to Hanji, he’s been holed in there alone since squads went off to do their daily drills that morning.

He doesn’t let Erwin speak before he’s at Erwin’s desk, fists on top of the wood and silver eyes flashed in irritation.

“Go the fuck to sleep, Erwin.”

Now, there’s a thing about Erwin, and it pisses Levi off about as much as him not sleeping does. Erwin is expressive, unless he chooses not to be. And sometimes Erwin chooses not to be and it’s almost always when Levi acts like this. Rather than a small look of surprise at the intrusion, or perhaps even indignation at Levi being insubordinate at best, Erwin only glances up, tilts his head at Levi in acknowledgement, and then Erwin goes back to his work.

“Did you not hear me? Go. To. Sleep.”

“Good afternoon to you too, Captain.”

“Don’t ‘good afternoon Captain’ me, Erwin.”

Finally, Erwin sets his pen down. He sets the pen down and looks at Levi, and Levi can see it. Erwin’s not gotten enough sleep. His eyes strain just so when he looks at Levi, not how they do when they’re alone and Erwin just looks at him (or through him, Levi feels sometimes, like Erwin’s boring his way through his soul) but in that way that Levi’s certain it’s a bit hard for Erwin to focus on his face.

“How long have you been up?”

“I have work to do.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Yes it does.”

Erwin’s tone says the conversation is final, but Levi’s not having it. Not when Erwin’s beyond tired at this point, but exhausted. Erwin tries to hide it like he always does but Levi can tell. Levi knows. All those little things like the way Erwin slumps just so as he looks up at him, the tiniest little bags that pull his eyes down.

Levi glances at the papers Erwin was working on. Numbers, and lists. Erwin’s going over supplies. That just pisses him off even more.

“Weren’t you doing that shit yesterday?”

Erwin replies with a sigh. “Yes. But there may have been discrepancies. The Capitol expects accuracy in these things. If there’s even one unit off, less or more than we report, it could cost us. I would rather the blame be placed on myself than so that I could handle it directly if there was such an issue.”

“That’s not your job,” Levi scowls. “There are people that crunch numbers like they came out doing it, Erwin.”

“Levi—”

“No.”

Levi leans over Erwin’s desk. Scowl ever present on his lips and the slightest bit of desperation that hits in his tone as he interrupts Erwin. “Do you not already do enough? Do you not already take on enough? How many condolence letters did you write after the last expedition? How many meetings have you attended? You haven’t been eating as much as you should, you barely keep up with your own damn hygiene enough to shave that stubble off your face. Between that and taking on extra hours consulting with Hanji and all the squad leaders on new strategy and now, apparently, doing our finances and taxes and shit on your own,  _the least you could fucking do is sleep like a normal person_. Don’t you already give enough?”

Levi finishes in a tone louder than he’d intended. He figures he can apologize later, but right now that’s the farthest thing from his mind. Erwin needs to sleep, doesn’t he know that?

Erwin stands up after a moment of silence and Levi wonders if Erwin’s going to send him away. But Erwin comes calmly around the desk to where Levi’s standing and pulls Levi to him, nestling Levi’s head against his chest. Instinctively, Levi leans closer to him.

“There’s not enough I’m capable of giving that will ever be enough, Levi.”

“Bullshit.”

Erwin laughs, wearily and somewhat hoarse. Levi tries to look up at him, but Erwin holds him to him in strength and warmth.

“Would you like to lay down with me for a nap, Levi?”

“Only if you promise to actually go down and stay down.”

Levi can feel a rumbling chuckle in Erwin’s chest.

“I think I can manage that, today.”

Today. Levi knew that meant he wasn’t to expect victory any other day. Like that would stop him.

“Then ok, Erwin.” 


End file.
